Biometric technologies capture, process and measure these characteristics electronically and compare them against existing records to create a highly accurate identity management capability.
School biometrics, typically electronic fingerprinting systems, have raised privacy concerns because of the creation of databases that would progressively include the entire population.
The UK introduced legal duties on schools if they wish to use biometric information about pupils, in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
[20] In 2007 Early Day Motion 686, which called on the UK Government to conduct a full and open consultation with stakeholders about the use of biometrics in schools, secured the support of 85 Members of Parliament.
In Belgium, this practice gave rise to a question in Parliament on February 6, 2007 by Michel de La Motte (Humanist Democratic Centre) to the Education Minister Marie Arena, who replied that they were legal insofar as the school did not use them for external purposes nor to survey the private life of children.
[23] Such practices have also been used in France (Angers, Carqueiranne college in the Var — the latter won the Big Brother Award of 2005 for its hand geometry system, etc.)
[25] Eagan High School, a testing ground for education technology since it opened, allowed willing students to use fingerprint readers to speed up the borrowing of library books.
[26] In 2000, Food Service Solutions, a local software development company, designed and implemented a system where students bought lunch with just a fingerprint.
[35] Concerns about the security implications of using conventional biometric templates in schools have been raised by a number of leading IT security experts, including Kim Cameron, architect of identity and access in the connected systems division at Microsoft, who cites research by Cavoukian and Stoianov to back up his assertion that "it is absolutely premature to begin using 'conventional biometrics' in schools".
Invenda and Adaria claimed that the software complied with GDPR, but the students remained unconvinced, and the vending machines were eventually removed.
[38][39][40] Biometric vendors claim benefits to schools such as improved reading skills, decreased wait times in lunch lines and increased revenues.
Educationalist Dr. Sandra Leaton Gray of Homerton College, Cambridge stated in early 2007 that:[42] I have not been able to find a single piece of published research which suggests that the use of biometrics in schools promotes healthy eating or improves reading skills amongst children...
There is absolutely no evidence for such claims.General references The following laws, legal opinions, or guidance are in place to regulate children's use of biometric technology.